Bellingham: Board stresses expanding tax base

BELLINGHAM - Selectmen spoke about economic development being imperative to supporting town services during an all-boards meeting Monday night.

At the start of the meeting - in which the board heard from representatives from the town's schools, library, Council on Aging and Parks Department, among others - Chairman Michael Soter said the past fiscal year had been a difficult one for the town.

"We hit some stumbling blocks this year," he said. "It was a tough year, mostly because of health insurance - we had to balance out an increase in contributions with reserve funds. We're hoping, once we've balanced out this year, to put money back in the reserve funds."

Soter praised those present for meeting the challenge.

"All the boards stepped up, all the departments stepped up, the schools stepped up," he said. "Everyone level-funded as best they could so we could avoid asking the taxpayers (to pay more than they do already)."

He said, though, the town is at a decision point when it comes to funding its activities.

"We have to decide, as a community, whether we go down the path of strong economic development or ask the taxpayer to dish out more," he said. "We, as a board, have gone down the road of saying we want to support economic development."

Members of the town's various boards and departments discussed what their groups do and the projects and challenges they saw ahead.

Library Director Bernadette Rivard said the library had recently completed a renovation of its children's space and repairs to its community room (the area had been closed for a few months after a car crashed through it). She said she looked forward to beginning work on a cafe space - an area where coffee and small food items could be consumed. Money for that space has already been approved, she said.

Council on Aging Chairwoman Kay Page said her group hoped to install sound-proofing in the senior center cafeteria, which would allow multiple programs to take place in the space. She also said the long-term goal is to make the center an emergency shelter, and looked forward to further conversations along those lines.

School Committee Chairman Michael Reed spoke of increased efforts to develop the district's teaching staff, and said he believed those moves would be paying dividends shortly. He said the schools had seen improved performance on state assessments, and that he was excited to see this positive move continue.

Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleason@wickedlocal.com. For news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @MGleason_MDN.

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